West Marine Superstore Opens In Fort Lauderdale

It is a link to one post in the thread, and it reads..: a new diving mask and snorkle, a pair of Costa Del Mar sunglasses, and a couple of hard to find superyacht magazines!

Agree:

Went over there a few days ago to find a certain size fender, but no cigar.
They had plenty of fluff but not what I was looking for.

Unfortunately, we no longer have " many options where we can spend our money". You may not have noticed, but WM has done to chandleries what HD has done to hardware stores (put them out of business, made suppliers put their products under generic labels and lowered quality). To cut anything on the say-so of a WM sales agent is a mistake. These are mostly guys with a little boating experience or otherwise they'd be at Macy's. Welcome to the future. It has arrived, otherwise known as the chickens coming home to roost.

I know all the toys in the new store are to draw you in and as all retail store they will push the better money makers more. Dam them trying to make money off us. I am big shopper of West Marine and the girl that runs the Nashville store will bend over backwards for me for what I need and great price. If I didn't see her helping everyone this way I would think she had a thing for me. West Marine is the only store I know that will match a internet price, I have even seen them match a ebay store. I take in my iphone and look for the best price in the us and they will match it. In restoring my boat I have to have this.

Wm

Well.WM has done Ok in Vancouver BC ..so far..usually it's the shopper who has limited knowledge and seeks their advice..the store does make money ..so far..
However, their prices are unreal..am amazed they still exist there, so, they must have a loyal "rich" customer base...still can't believe it, their biggest retail competitor, Stevston Marine is a few block away with prices way lower,, hmmm, maybe it's a racial thing....those who are local will understand...my 2c

They have the largest selection and their employees are great, you just can't get some of the things independents could get you. Prime example would be like certain types of teak oil. And although there employees are very nice and helpful, most aren't who I'd go to for advice except maybe on choosing some electronics.

Yes and cleaning products. If they have a West Marine branded cleaning product they won't have other brands such as Orpine. They tend to push mostly their store branded stuff and carry very little other competitors stuff.

I agree, the selection at West Marine is poor. It seems West Marine mainly caters to trailer boats and not yachts. Try to find 24 volt bilge pumps or lightbulbs in MOST ALL of their stores, they don't have them. That being said, I like Boat Owner's Warehouse.

Right on both counts Capt. J. Like with every big store today, they get good products then use their volume to compell the vendor to put the product under the WM label. Once that happen, the quality of the product invariably goes down.
WM caters to a lot more than trailered boats. I'd say 60' to 80' for some products, but they are the future.

All is true on all of you but all we have in Nashville is West Marine and a few camping stores. But I do have the WWW. anytime I need it and I try to find what I need here first. I order a lot things online and I know that if I go to West Marine I know they will match or beat anyone's price on the WWW.

I think you guys are looking at it wrong, now they do make there money on new boaters not yachters. You guys are spoiled down there in south FL, having all the boat stores around the corner. If you can't find it here then go around the corner. There almost like country music bars downtown Nashville. If you want the best price then get your smart phone, ipad out while in the store and find the best price or have them to look up the best price online they will do it for you but only if you ask. If you don't ask then to them your just another dumb ass new boater ready to blow his wad so he can show off his new gold and white boat ropes.

I don't know about catering to the 60-80' crowd. They don't stock any docklines about 5/8" or any large fenders, and virtually nothing 24 volt in most all of the stores in South Florida.

The West Marine branded cleaning products, waxes, and such are diluted garbage that don't work very well. I have used Orpine for a decade for boat soap, but just stumbled on the Aquatech boat soap and it is totally amazing and takes black streaks off like nobody's business and doesn't seem to effect the wax.

It seams when we need some things for our larger boats 90+ they can be hard to find in a retail store. My boat has older anchors one is a 500lb. and the other a 200lb. I want to replace then with some better lighter anchors and not sure west marine will have them. I would love to build them myself but not sure if I can ever find the time. I want a fortress anchor for the size of my boat. I think this store might have one. I have learned in life sometimes it is better to listen to the pros, but in the stores to often there not really pro they just act as if they are.

Fortress Anchor FX-125

Forget the fortress anchor, it's too light and in any current has trouble hitting the bottom unless you have a lot of chain behind it. Plus the flukes bend easily with any weight and pull behind it, or if you're hooked on a rock and then you end up adrift......If you don't have chain you'll be hard pressed to stay hooked. They are very fair weather anchors and you can take the size they're rated for and multiply it by .6 and then it's adequate.......With anchors, weight is your best friend and considering your boat is a displacement hull, that is heavy, carrying around 700lbs of anchors isn't going to effect your fuel consumption or anything else.

Don't get me wrong, they have their place, and make a good lunch hook, or stern anchor and such or work well if they're oversized and have all chain behind them......I just wouldn't trust one as my primary anchor, and would prefer just about anything else.

Most of what we have up here is mud. The fortress seams to do very well and has been most of what I have had on my other boats, but not that I should forget my last boat was 35 ton not 95 ton.

I do have a 5/8 chain to keep any anchor down, so that wont be a problem I just need to get the right size anchor and by your math I need a 60" anchor. Is that overall or the blades,, Thanks

I'm just saying to take their rating of holding power and multiply it by 60% and that's about what I would go with.